RAL and Anglo American pave the way

LIMPOPO – Speaking at the signing ceremony last Thursday at the mining giant’s head office in downtown Johannesburg.

RAL CEO, Maselaganye Matji, said in terms of the agreement, Anglo American Platinum would contribute R46,8 million towards the design and construction of the 20 km road estimated to cost R200 million, stretching from Atok, passing through Ga-Mashabela and ending in the Ga-Selepe area. RAL will be responsible for the R153,2 million balance.

“We have decided to adopt a strategy to bring in partners who can assist in road construction. Once our roads are in a good condition, businesses will be interested in participating in the Limpopo economy,” Matji said.

He said RAL had so far managed to secure investments of R306 million from private sector stakeholders to partner in the upgrade of the road infrastructure in Limpopo.

These include Exxaro, cement maker PPC, and Ledjadja Coal – which operates Boikarabelo coal mine on behalf of resource giant Resgen – all in the Waterberg area, a key economic zone for the province.

Of the 20 260 km of road network that RAL is responsible for, about 14 300 km is gravel road. In terms of its own calculations, the roads agency would need R150 billion to address the backlog, money that is not available through the fiscus. That is why such partnerships are crucial.

“To build a road is not cheap,” saidMatji. Indresen Pillay, Executive Head of Projects at Anglo American Platinum, said it was the first time his company had entered into a partnership whereby they co-fund an infrastructure project with a state entity. In the past, he said, Anglo would build a clinic or a school for a community and hand over the completed project to either the Department of Education or the Department of Health.

He said the company was initially concerned around issues of governance, capability, capacity and leadership.

However, they were impressed by the solid management structure and expertise that exists within RAL to handle such a dynamic partnership project.

“What RAL has demonstrated is that they have the governance in place, they have the capacity and capability in place and they have got the funding mechanism in place to be able to allow this to happen.

“When you have the stars aligning in that way, it makes it feasible to enter into these kinds of agreements,” he said.

Pillay said his company was excited to share ideas and expertise with a state agency and was committed to seeing the entire project through.

“This is not something where we are going to write a cheque and walk away.

“We will continue to be partners in the delivery of this project, and as partners we will be able to learn from one another,” he added.

Progress has already been made in relation to this latest partnership with Anglo American Platinum.

The project has gone out on a public tender, and once a preferred contractor has been selected, construction work could begin around 20 September.

Anglo American’s Twickenham Project, the company’s core platinum mine situated in the Sekhukhune region of Limpopo, has been struggling of late.

The mine has been put under care and has had to reduce some of its workload.

Anglo American Platinum and RAL are aiming to use this project to boost the local economy by not only employing from the communities that will be served by the road under construction, but to procure materials from locals and to develop suppliers that are able to provide raw material to the contractor.

In addition to this Memorandum of Agreement, Anglo has completed a number of road infrastructure initiatives for communities neighbouring its Twickenham mine and the Greater Tubatse Municipality.

These include:

• A 13 km internal road in the Greater Tubatse Municipality connecting Ga-Makgopa and Swazimanyane villages.

Another 4,3 km will be completed this year.

• Two access bridge roads built in close proximity to the Marapong and Dithabaneng communities, benefiting a number of road users.

• Contributing R20 million to the upgrade of the R37 carriageway, a crucial road that connects the Sekhukhune region to the rest of the province.

Matji said the province was committed to widening the R37 carriageway into a four lane road stretching from Burgersfort to Modipa.